Ethics report finds ‘substantial evidence’ Matt Gaetz violated statutory rape law: Live updates
Gaetz stands accused of buying and using illegal drugs, including from his office on Capitol Hill, according to the report
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Your support makes all the difference.The House Ethics Committee report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has been released, with the panel having “determined there is substantial evidence” that the former congressman and attorney general nominee violated a statutory rape law.
“The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report states.
Before its release, Gaetz sued the committee to block the release of the report that found that he paid thousands of dollars to more than a dozen women — including a 17-year-old girl — for sex.
In a federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., the Republican accused the committee of making an “unconstitutional” attempt to “exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen” by releasing a report “containing potentially defamatory allegations.”
He asked for a judge to issue an emergency order to block the report’s release, but drafts had already been published in several news outlets Monday morning.
Publishing the report would mark an “unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” attorneys for the former congressman wrote.
Trump nominates Stephen Alexander Vaden as deputy secretary of the department of agriculture
The president-elected named Judge Stephen Alexander Vaden as his deputy secretary of agriculture in a Truth Social Post on Sunday shortly after he gave a rally-style speech in Arizona. “In my First Term, Stephen was the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture, and a Member of the Board of the Commodity Credit Corporation, where he won two cases before the United States Supreme Court, relocated and reorganized the Agencies that comprise the Department to better serve Rural America, and engaged in substantial regulatory reform,” Trump wrote.
“Stephen joined the USDA on Day One of my First Term, and left in December 2020 after I nominated him, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him, to continue to serve the American People as an Article III Judge on the Court of International Trade,” he said.
Texas Republican Rep. Kay Granger found in retirement facility after months out of the public eye
The discovery by a local newspaper of “confused” Texas Republican Representative Kay Granger, 81, in an assisted care facility on Saturday after she dropped out of sight last month has retriggered concerns about aging lawmakers clinging to their powerful roles in the face of fears about diminishing competence.
Age became a political issue in 2024 as in no other election cycle in the modern era of American politics, touching on former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Peloisi, the late California Representative Dianne Feinstein, President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump and other aging leaders.
With the presidential election now in the rear-view mirror, a troubling picture is increasingly emerging of Washington.
John Bowden has the full story.
Aging DC in the spotlight after ‘confused’ lawmaker found living in a nursing home
Washington showed its gray hair in 2024. More reckonings are likely on the horizon
WATCH: “They better be careful,” Trump says, repeating tariff threats against EU
Biden admin looks to lock in legacy on immigration and death penalty
The Biden administration is using its waning days in office to make a final mark ahead of the incoming Trump White House.
It announced Friday it would forgive another $4.28 billion in student debt for 54,900 borrowers who pursued careers in public service, bringing Biden’s total to some $180 billion of forgiveness overall, the largest sum of debt forgiveness from any president in U.S. history.
At the same time, the administration said it would scrap further forgiveness proposals from the U.S. Department of Education, noting “uncertainty around the implementation” given Trump’s impending inauguration.
“The Department at this time intends to commit its limited operational resources to helping at-risk borrowers return to repayment successfully,” Education Secretary Migual Cardona wrote in official notices.
Josh Marcus has the full story.
Biden admin wants to lock in migration and death penalty policies as it drops others
Administration announced intention to drop student loan proposals and a proposed rule on transgender sports bans
ICYMI: Lara Trump will not run for the Senate
Lara Trump dropped out of the running for the Senate on Saturday evening, teasing a “big announcement” to come in January.
Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law was floated as a possible replacement for Marco Rubio, the president-elect’s choice for secretary of state.
Two weeks ago Trump announced she was also stepping down from her role as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Rhian Lubin has the full story.
Lara Trump drops out of running for the Senate, teases ‘big announcement’
Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law was floated as a possible replacement for Marco Rubio, the president-elect’s choice for secretary of state
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The president-elect welcomes a ‘commonsense revolution'
Donald Trump said a “commonsense revolution” is coming soon to America.
“Woke has to stop. It’s destroying our country. Woke is bulls***,” Trump said, citing the renaming of ships and military bases that were named after Confederate figures. “We will get critical race theory and transgender insanity out of our schools,” he said.
In his second term, Trump promised taxes will be slashed, wages will be increased, violent crime will end and America’s “once-great cities” will be rebuilt.
“We are finally going to build up our country, defend our land and protect our citizens,” the president-elect promised.
“Together we will fight, fight, fight, and together we will win, win, win!” Trump said at the conclusion of his speech.
Before walking off the stage, he did his signature “Trump dance” as the Village People’s “YMCA” played.
Trump lays out anti-trans policies that he will sign on ‘day one'
“With the stroke of my pen, on day one I will stop the transgender lunacy,” Donald Trump told the Phoenix crowd.
He said he plans to stop “gender mutilation,” keep transgender Americans out of the military and “keep men out of women’s sports,” he said.
WATCH: Donald Trump Threatens To Retake Panama Canal
Former GOP chair suggests Musk is steamrolling ‘too old’ Trump
The former chairman of the Republican Party turned the tables on Donald Trump’s long-running criticism of Joe Biden and suggested it’s now the president-elect who may be “too old” to hold his own — especially against his new “best buddy” Elon Musk.
Michael Steele hit out amid lawmakers’ harsh rebukes of Trump after the tech billionaire appeared to play a major role earlier this week via X to kill the first bipartisan stopgap government funding deal floated by Republican House speaker Mike Johnson.
Trump issued a statement agreeing with his billionaire backer only after Musk launched the initial attacks, leading some to mock Trump as Musk’s obsequious vice president.
Read the full story.
Former GOP chair suggests Musk is steamrolling ‘too old’ Trump
Michael Steele suggests Donald Trump may be ‘too old’ to handle the challenges facing him, leaving an opening for Elon Musk to take charge
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